Fantastic Four Vol 1 271
** ** ** ** Supporting Characters: * * * * Antagonists: * Other Characters: * * Mrs. Peacock * Locations: * ** * ** *** The Richards Family Estate *** Richards Rocket Group Headquarters Items: * Encephalo-Enhancer * Vehicles: * | Notes = Continuity Notes 'Present Day' * Members of the Fantastic Four were last seen in the following stories: ** Reed and Johnny were last seen in brief cameos in the second story of . ** Sue had a brief cameo in ** She-Hulk appears in when the Fantastic Four help protect the Casket of Ancient Winters. * This is not the real Alicia Masters, but a Skrull spy named Lyja. As per , Lyja replaced Alicia to infiltrate and spy on the Fantastic Four. * The number of candles of Reed's cake count to 40. Reed's actual age should be considered a matter of interpretation. A previous reference to his age was in the letter pages of that states that Reed was in his late 30s that time. Per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616, for every four years of real time, roughly one year elapses in the Marvel universe. As such, roughly six years of time had passed between Fantastic Four #11 and this issue. So by the point of this story, Reed should be in his mid to late 40s. One could argue that the candles represent Reed's physical age after he was de-aged in . * Reed mentions how his mind was pulled from his body by Taranith Gestal during their exploration of the Negative Zone. The Fantastic Four ventured into the Negative Zone between - . Reed's mind was harvested and trapped in Gestal's ship in - . * This is the first time Reed's parents are mentioned. Reed's father is identified as Nathaniel in , his mother Evelyn is named in . Fantastic Four #273 also reveals that Reed's mother died when Reed was only seven years old. * Reed mentions how Ben stayed behind on Battleworld during the Secret Wars. As seen in , Ben decided to stay on Battleworld when he discovered he could change back and forth between his human and Thing forms. Ben remains on Battleworld between - , when he discovers the truth about his ability to change back-and-forth, only to lose that ability in the process. This, along with the discovery that Johnny and "Alicia" are dating in leads to Ben being estranged from the Fantastic Four until he rejoins the team in . * Wyatt makes mention of the Fantastic Four's previous financial problems early on in their career. This is a reference to when the Fantastic Four filed for bankruptcy and Reed had to sell off their assets. * Reed states that his father disappeared three years prior to the space flight that created the Fantastic Four. From the perspective of this story, the events of happened roughly six years prior per the Sliding Timescale. This would place Nathaniel Richard's disappearance as happening nine years prior to this story. * Reed makes the observation that his father's time platform resembles that of the one they confiscated from Doctor Doom following their first battle in . This is somewhat accurate, as revealed in , Reed did indeed confiscate it but was forced to return it for diplomatic reasons, but not before he was able to duplicate the device for his own use. * Following their appearances here, "Alicia" and Franklin are seen in and respectively. 'The Past' * Reed, and Sue's last chronological appearance from this point in time was in a flashback from . While Ben's previous chronological appearance is in the flashback from . * All Cold War references in this story should be considered topical references per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. As the modern age slides forward so as not to prematurely age the character, such is the same with everyone's past prior to the birth of the Fantastic Four. * As revealed in , General Edward Hannigan provided Reed with the equipment he needed to defeat Gormuu, and was later responsible for covering up the whole incident from the general public. * Naturally, the space ship seen here is the one that Reed and his friends pilot in the accident that turn them into the Fantastic Four way back in . * Following these events, Reed and Sue are next seen in where they are being observed by the Watcher and Doctor Strange. * Ben is seen next in the flashback in the second story of where he began a romance with Dr. Linda McGill. Chronology Notes A flashback in this story affects the chronology of the following characters: * * Publication Note * The flashback sequence, as well as the cover, is presented in an antiquited in a pre-hero (prior to 1961) manner with John Byrne's artwork also reflecting this motif. * This issue also contains a letters page, Fantastic Forum. Letters are published from Stephen Scott, Beau Smith, Charles Ardinger V, Gregory Hrynchyshn, Vicki Newton, Sean Twist, and Mary Francis O'Malley. | Trivia = | Recommended = | Links = }}